Celebrate the history and future of public health education, practice, and research at Pitt Public Health during a grand celebration. This one exciting weekend will mark 70 years since our founding, our second-ever all-classes alumni reunion, and a building rededication ceremony recognizing the completion of the six-year, over $70 million “Building for a Healthier World” renovation and expansion project. Join alumni, past and present faculty, current students, and supporters of the school in proudly celebrating 70 years of public health leadership! #Celebrate70 @PittPubHealth

What is the Definition of Public Health?

Public health is defined as the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy making and research for disease and injury prevention.

The definition of public health is different for every person. Whether you like to crunch numbers, conduct laboratory or field research, formulate policy, or work directly with people to help improve their health, there is a place for you in the field of public health. Being a public health professional enables you to work around the world, address health problems of communities as a whole, and influence policies that affect the health of societies.

Public health involves the application of many different disciplines:

Biology

Anthropology

Public policy

Mathematics

Engineering

Education

Psychology

Computer science

Sociology

Medicine

Business

and others

What do public health professionals do?

As a public health professional, you will be trained to perform one or more of these ten essential services:

Monitor the health status of a community to identify potential problems

Diagnose and investigate health problems and hazards in the community

Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues, particularly the underserved and those at risk

Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems

Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts

Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety

Link people to needed personal health services and ensure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable

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The need for public health professionals

The public health field currently is experiencing a shortage in workers, while the U.S. population continues to grow. This combination is expected to result in a shortage of nearly 250,000 professionals—approximately one-third of the workforce needed to identify, treat, and prevent new and emerging public health threats.